A Friend To Turn To
by Hikari Takaishi
Summary: I saw the new episodes and thought of how Ken and Takeru were so kawaii... Anyway, PG for a li'l bit of Kekeru. But it's really about a friendship/hidden crush. Read an' review. Hikari T~


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A Friend To Turn To

Darkness filled a cluttered but spacious room. Papers were tossed about carelessly and several books and binders were strewn in broken lines. Nothing was organized and nothing was tidy any more. A young boy, aged eleven, opened the door and a light glow fell onto the floor in front of him. His shadow was in the middle of the lighted doorway and his appearance looks calm and intelligent. He turned on the light and the room lit up in a flash. Everything was tossed so negligently around that he couldn't take a step without stepping on the edge of a piece of paper. The young lad stopped in front of his window and looked outside. It was so bright and peaceful looking. He couldn't resist, so he made his way outside to the balcony.

Resting his arms against the railing, he leaned forward, his eyes scanning the city of Odaiba. There were very few clouds and the sun seemed to avoid them all. A few cirrus clouds filled the far end of the western skies to give it a composed kind of look. Thoughts ran through his man a million times a minute… But they weren't his usual thoughts, they were all about one person. One person who was caring, sweet, and kind. This person was funny, but in the sense serious. The boy's dreams had reflected off of this person. And every time he had a dream, he wrote them down. He'd get stuck on what happened next, because he couldn't remember, and toss the paper over his shoulders to begin again. Maybe it was time for the boy to tell this person how he felt. 

"Nah," he said to himself, unaware he said it aloud. He turned around and leaned against the railing, bringing a hand to stroke his chin in thought. He was sure that the person he envied, or liked, was on a different path than he was. Jumping paths was not what he was planning to do. This person led one life, he led another. Never were they able to cross each other's destinies. Or so he thought.

The adolescent tilted his head back and felt the breeze rush through his dark hair. Closing his gentle and deep blue eyes, he sighed with a smile across his face. Dreams never hurt anyone. And if they did, he'd surely would have hurt himself. Another deep breath and then the boy turned around again to stare outwards. 

"Ken," he said to himself. "Since when did you enjoy such favorable dreams? And about this individual?" He chuckled and another gust of wind swept across the balcony. He shivered, despite the shining sun, and walked back in. Looking at the mess of papers, he laughed. For once his room was occupied with something other than schoolwork and other such things. It wasn't like Ken to feel so strongly about something; he never actually cared to care. But he decided that things change. …Everything changes.

"Three o' clock…" he said, hearing the gentle gong of the clock in the hallway. "Takeru should be home soon…" Ken checked his wristwatch to be sure. Takeru went skiing up in the mountains for the weekend. He was to be home today, Sunday, at three. The small hand of the clock fell upon the minute after the hour. Laughter from his parents filled the room outside of his and he frowned. He didn't have anything to laugh at. And although he wanted to go outside and see or talk to them, he resisted and waited for a phone call. 

_Tick, tock, tick, tick, tick…_ Ken's eyes drifted from his watch to the clock on his wall. He adjusted it slightly; two minutes after, now three. To pass time, the young boy kicked all the papers into one area of his room. He bit into an apple as he kicked everything into a corner. Surprisingly, he didn't even hear the phone ring. But the knock on the door startled him.

"What do you want?" he asked, slightly rough and slightly dumbfounded. His mother came in with the phone. She apologized several times before he took the phone and shut the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello."

Ken smirked at the sound of the voice. "You're late. Were you not the one who said he'd call at the precise time of three?"

An uneasy laugh came from the other line.

"I'm just--" Ken started.

"Kidding." Takeru finished. "I know."

Ken sat on his bed and tilted his chin to look up at the ceiling. "How was it?" he asked.

"Good and fun."

"Did you get hurt?" Ken asked again, a little sarcasm in his voice.

Takeru paused; "Actually, yeah. I sorta did."

The boy shook his head. "T.K.," he slipped into using his nickname, "I knew you were going to injure yourself in some ways. So what'd you hurt?"

"Ankle," he replied. "Hey wait one minute… What do you mean you knew I was going to hurt myself?"

Ken chuckled, "Nothing. Never mind."

"Aw, I hate it when you do that." Takeru said in a pouting voice.

"How did the others enjoy it?" Ken changed the subject.

"Daisuke did the most hilarious thing when we got there!" Exclaimed Takeru, almost too loudly. "We were riding up and when it was time to jump off… he wouldn't jump off! Miyako had to slap him over the head until he fell off. And he started to slide down the mountain screaming and wailing and flailing his arms all around. Again, Miyako had to chase after him and stop him. It was funny."

"I see."

"And them Miyako flirted with a married man. She kept claiming that he looked like a teenager and she tried to laugh it off. When we were about to leave, she saw him again and he started to approach her. Before we could've made any wise cracks, she pulled us into the car and pretended she didn't know him. But before we left and all that junk… Hikari and I-"

Ken clenched his fist at the sound of that name and how happy Takeru sounded when he said it.

"Well, nothing really happened that was funny with Hikari. But we had a blast." Takeru paused over the phone. Then he added, "I have to go, call you later?"

"Let's go to a movie." Ken blurted out. "I mean uh, there's a good uh, comedy out in our theatre."

"Sounds fun." 

"I bet."

"Do you know the times?"

Ken blinked. "Actually, no. But with a simple phone call, I could find out."

"All right. Call me later or something." Takeru replied. "G'bye." Then he hung up.

Ken blinked again. Takeru said that he would go to a movie with him… He was dazed and happy. But at the same time, he was scared. He almost, unwillingly, said his feelings towards his friend in a disguised manner. For months they attempted a friendship. And for months that's all that happened. Friendship wasn't a bad thing for Ken, but he always wanted his way. No matter what, he wanted his way. Takeru was what he wanted. As a friend and more. He found himself thinking about this and shook his head. Every time he'd think of this, he wouldn't want to think of it. It was just a thing that confused him deeply. Confusion was one thing that he hated…

In a second, he forgot his thoughts and called the Odaiba Theatre to check the timings. Ken settled with the eight o' clock showing and wrote down a memorandum to himself to call Takeru. Until then, he decided to work on his computer. It was something he had postponed for a long time.

Takeru twirled a basketball on his finger as he walked into the kitchen. His ankle was wrapped lightly, showing that it didn't cause much damage. The ball started to slow, but he gave it another twirl. Getting a glass from the cupboard, he then walked to the fridge. He reached to get the milk, but he dropped the basketball and it bounced four times before rolling.

"Takeru," his mother's warning voice said from her bedroom.

"Sorry, Mom. I forgot." He admitted. The two had a rule saying he couldn't bounce the basketball in the house. Nor the kitchen of all places. Takeru set the glass on the counter and poured the milk. His foot reached out and tapped the ball towards him. Another tap and it was in front of his feet. His left foot dug under the ball and kicked it up. He caught it under his arm and closed the milk carton. A smirk crossed his face and he put the milk away. As he sipped his drink, his mother walked into the scene. Her eyes were glancing across several pages of work.

"Takeru," she said.

"Yeah, Mom…" He took the report from her hands and started to read it over. It was another thing he did for his mom; he'd proofread the reports she did and told her how they sounded. A few minutes later, Takeru handed it back and said, "The end needs to be more convincing. I think you just rewrote the beginning… Think of something else to say along those lines. 'Kay, Mom?" He didn't wait for a reply, he left the room with his drink and his basketball.

Hours later…

Ken tossed up his phone to his ear and pressed the numbers to Takeru's home. Two and a half rings later, Takeru picked up the phone. The radio was playing kind of loudly, but his voice was clear.

"Hey."

"Hi. Got the times?"

"Eight o' clock."

"So it'll be dark by the time it's over." Takeru said, more to himself than to Ken.

"Problem?" Ken asked, hearing mumbling sounds on the other line.

"Nah, just thinking." Takeru answered.

"Are we going to meet there or what?"

"Yeah, let's meet there."

"All right." Ken said, a smile appearing on his face. They hung up shortly after and Ken looked at the clock. It was seven fifteen. He slipped off of his bed and landed on the ground with a soft thud. His thoughts were completely on the night ahead.

Ken left the house when it was twenty before. It was a perfect night; it was warm and it was silent. He always liked the silence. It allowed him to think. When he arrived at the movie theatre, Takeru wasn't in sight. He stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the pictures of the upcoming movies. Several "Oh, look, it's the boy genius," remarks came from idolizing girls. One tapped him on the shoulder to start a conversation. But she blushed deeply and fainted. The only way he reacted was to catch the girl. Her friends awed with envy. Then she opened her eyes and blushed again. She said something about an apology and dashed away with her friends screaming after her. He shook his head at them. After all, he was an ordinary boy. Or so he wished.

Takeru finally showed up and they nodded to each other. They entered the theater and bought the tickets. Takeru bought the popcorn, snacks, and pop. He said that being prepared was a good idea. Ken shrugged and walked into the dimly lit room with the large screen and movie chairs. Takeru mentioned something about how being in the back was the best place to sit. Ken always thought it was more to the front, but he shrugged again and they sat in the back. The seating arrangement was much to Ken's disapproval. He wanted to whisper to Takeru if he had a wisecrack against the movie, but it didn't work out that way. Takeru sat two seats to the left of him. The two popcorn buckets were on the seats in the middle. Hushed remarks came from people all over the rooms as the lights faded. The movie was about to begin.

Humor was what this movie was placed under, but there were many romance scenes and dramatic climaxes. Then again, they always ended with the comedic actions. Nothing happened between Takeru and Ken. They were just two guys watching a comedy and enjoying it. Ken was fine with it. Takeru was, too. It was a very funny movie, so they wouldn't have had much time to talk anyway. 

The movie ended within what seemed like minutes instead of hours. Walking out with their drinks, the two guys walked around the block to go back home. Their conversation was entirely on the movie. They stopped at a nearby park that was occupied by a couple. Takeru squinted to see who they were, they did look familiar.

Ken's eyes widened a little. He figured out who it was. "C'mon, Takeru." He said quickly.

"They look familiar though," he tried to protest. 

"So?" Ken took his hand and pulled him away. "Just because city looks familiar, doesn't mean the stranger feels welcome."

Takeru wondered what that meant. When he noticed Ken gripping his hand, he blushed. Ken didn't notice as quickly as his friend did; he was trying not to tell him that it was Daisuke and Hikari sitting on the bench. It would have ruined his night completely. He froze when he felt Takeru's fingers twitch around his. With burning cheeks, Ken looked up towards his friend who was looking back at him. They pulled away from each other when both of them made eye contact.

Nothing more was said when they started to walk again. But silence was deafening and the two started to talk about the movie again. No matter how hard Takeru tried, he could never talk about how he felt towards his friend. Neither could Ken. 

"Hey," Takeru said, checking his watch.

"What is it?" 

"We have time for another movie," suggested the blonde. "If you want that is."

Ken thought about it briefly, "Sounds fine with me." 

They nodded in agreement and turned around to walk back. The warm air was circling around the friends by the time they got to the park again. Daisuke and Hikari were still there. This time, Takeru noticed. His fists clenched tightly, but he remained calm. Even his expression displayed his gentle features. Though his eyes burned with jealousy, he couldn't figure out why. Ken noticed his confusion and wondered about various things. None of them seemed to match. Takeru turned to look at them before they turned the corner, Daisuke and Hikari were engaged in a love-filled kiss. Tears rose to his eyes and his cheeks burned. Ken set his hand on his friend's shoulder for a sign of understanding. Takeru's crystal blue eyes looked down the dark street and then at his friend.

"I don't feel up to watching that movie now." He said lowly and slumped down onto the curb, his head falling onto his hands at the same time his elbows rested on his knees. 

Ken nodded and sat down beside him. "I interpret what you are saying."

The blond tried his best to keep himself calm, but he soon trembled at the thought of his first crush loving one of his friends. Dim lights from the streetlights fell down on them. Ken felt sorrow for the boy, but he didn't know what to do. When Takeru looked up at him, he looked back. Both of their blue eyes shined. A moment of staring passed, then Ken started to lean towards the blond. Instead of him retreating, Takeru closed his eyes and seemingly waited for the kiss. Ken's eyes closed as well when the touch of his friend's lips met his. Even in the warm air, Takeru shivered. The touch was only brief, they both turned away, unsure of what to do.

Ken wondered what happened. He knew what happened. But he didn't know _why_ it happened. Takeru's thoughts were wondering the same thing. 

"I apologize, Takeru." Ken whispered.

"Me too." He reported. Takeru felt an arm around his shoulder and he looked back at Ken. Ken wasn't looking back this time, he had already wrapped his arm around his shoulders in the friend type of way. Takeru realized that the tears returned and he set his head on Ken's shoulder. None of them spoke, but Ken allowed Takeru to cry on his shoulder. The blond was as confused as ever, and his friend was to take partial credit. Ken and Takeru were enemies, never wanting to talk or see each other. But their friendship grew almost too rapidly and there was a crush involved. Nevertheless, the crush was returned, but Takeru didn't know if it was infatuation or the fact that he did actually like him. Together they sat, the warm air was beginning to cool and Takeru started to be comforted. Thanks to Ken, he released the pressure he was bearing for so long. For the rest of the night, they remained on the curb, talking about anything that crossed their minds. And when it was time to leave, Ken hesitantly gave Takeru another kiss on the cheek. This time, they didn't turn away. They kept their eyes locked on the other's. Takeru realized that it wasn't infatuation.

"Thanks, Ken."

"I'm always here for you..." They smiled faintly and then stared up into the endless sky.

I was just itching to write a Kekeru story. I know it sucks, but I wrote it right after the first episode today. It took me an hour and a half to write this. That's why it seems kind of rushed. ^_^; Sorry, people. Thanks for reading! Review, please. Hikari Takaishi~


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